An A-League season of promise and hope

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when an unspoken rule held sway: to play for Australia, you needed to play your club football outside Australia.

World Cup squads of 2006 and 2010 were living proof. Only three players – Archie Thompson, Michael Beauchamp and Mark Milligan – were selected for the 2006 campaign and not one of them played a single tournament minute.

In 2010, two players from the domestic competition were selected. Jason Culina, already a lock inclusion from his years abroad, and Adelaide United's Eugene Galekovic. To this day, Culina holds the distinction of being the only A-League player to have represented the Socceroos on the pitch at a World Cup. Of course, the A-League was still in its infancy in 2006, and, four years later, suffering from the ignominious assessment of then-coach Pim Verbeek, who felt training sessions in the Bundesliga were superior to matches in the A-League.

Socceroo Mark Milligan is one of only two current A-League players in the squad that will take on France on Saturday morning. Photo: Getty Images

Fast-forward to now, some eight months before Australia's third successive World Cup, and the situation has never been so different. At last, the domestic competition is a place to get noticed for the national team. No longer will playing for, say, Central Coast or Perth Glory leave a question mark next to your name. ''I think it's a credit to the league and it shows how far we've come as a whole,'' Western Sydney coach Tony Popovic said. ''Take Michael Zullo for example. He knows that if he's playing regularly, at home or abroad, Holger Osieck will be looking at him, which is why he's come back from Holland [to join Adelaide]. That wasn't the case a few years ago. It's a great sign of the progress that players feel this way. Those who are coming back now seem hungry and ambitious, too. Hopefully they're going to bring qualities they've learned abroad to our training and matches. It's great for everyone.''

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True, there are only two A-League players in the Australian squad that will face France on Saturday morning, Matt McKay and Milligan. But don't let that fool you. Between Matt Ryan, Mitch Langerak, Jason Davidson, Jackson Irvine, Mathew Leckie and Oliver Bozanic, there's five international caps. It's an experimental mix at best. Yet in the past 12 months, there's been another 26 players from the A-League who have been called up to the Socceroos. Then there's perhaps a half-a-dozen more who play elsewhere but made their name in the A-League.

If the tide began turning in the past year or two, it's now officially a torrent. Why? Because these players are desperate to be seen and heard – and they know the A-League gets you noticed.

Back at the Roar: Socceroo Matt McKay. Photo: Getty Images

The list is growing by the day.

Then there are those staying put because they know it will better their chances. Think Jade North, Michael Thwaite, Ivan Franjic, Nathan Coe, Milligan, Thompson, Galekovic plus Brett Emerton, who certainly hasn't given up hope. Trent Sainsbury, Mitchell Duke and Aaron Mooy are surely better served by starring here than rotting on the bench somewhere else. Mustafa Amini's plight should be a warning. Whispers are rising around Bernie Ibini's situation in Shanghai. The most unexpected return came from Matthew Spiranovic. He's taken a risk in fighting for his place at Western Sydney, but if he can win his way to the starting gate at Parramatta Stadium, he'll almost certainly book himself a trip to Brazil. No Bundesliga training session can offer that. Just ask Amini.

5 comments so far

The A-League may be starting to make headway in terms of supplying Socceroos, but I am guessing a training ground in the Bundesliga or The Championship in England will count for way more once the real stuff begins.

No offence to the A-League, but making it in the A-League and playing a few games in Germany or England is like chalk and cheese. Granted there are probably a couple of players who could play at a higher level, but prefer the comforts of home, but we are a long way from being able to match rival leagues for class and quality. There is a reason we keep signing 35 year old "superstars" not 27 year old superstars. They come for a kick and a pay day. A-League should be used as a stepping stone to Europe and Asian League, but I doubt we can mount any real challenge to qualification and/or the group stages at a World Cup with A-League based players.

Commenter

MattyHoofaT

Location

Perth

Date and time

October 10, 2013, 12:20PM

Can I draw an alternative interpretation of the fact that the A-League will manage 'some'/more representation within the ranks of the national team during the forthcoming World Cup.

It is solely due to the ever shallow talent pool that each year (as the old school retires or returns to Australia for any game, including in the A-League) the A-League has to fill the holes.

That Archie Thompson (baring injury) 'will' get a game in Brazil is a very sad indictment of the strength of the national squad. It has to be anticipated that amid the final 32 Australia will not collect 3 points and not negotiate our way past the group stage.

Commenter

Joe

Location

Geelong

Date and time

October 10, 2013, 1:49PM

Is it a sign of the quality of the A-League or the lack of quality of Australian footballers unable to play in top-flight leagues overseas? Lets not kid ourselves, the A-League at times still resembles Saturday afternoon. And wasnt Archie Thompson rottign away on the PSV bench at the time of the 2006 World Cup?

Commenter

Ash

Date and time

October 10, 2013, 2:05PM

A lot of this is down to much-maligned coach Holger Osieck, who from day one made a commitment to consider players from the A-league for NT selection, rather than casting doubts about its quality, as Pim Verbeek did. The irony is that Osieck has now been forced to look to the A-League because so few Euro-based players are commanding regular first team action. There's Mat Ryan, Robbie Kruse, Mile Jedinak... and not many others.

Commenter

Andrew

Location

Coogee

Date and time

October 10, 2013, 2:22PM

Sorry, couldn't help but notice the typo in your title, it should read: